Vol. 271 No. 3
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he is satisfied that sufficient information is made available by the usual annual financial statement of companies; and if they are a satisfactory basis on which to base statistics needed for the programming of social and economic policies for the country.
193.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will introduce legislation to place a statutory obligation on all company directors and company executives to disclose to his Department their associations as directors, executives, advisers or shareholders of companies outside the State.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 192 and 193 together.
The law relating to the contents of accounts, and also the practice of most companies which voluntarily go beyond the actual requirements of the law in their degree of disclosure, are based primarily on the classic view that the purpose of the accounts was to provide information for shareholders and creditors. Modern thinking would recognise that employees and the community have legitimate interests in disclosure also. This will have to be carefully looked at when we come to amend the law relating to accounts in accord with forthcoming EEC requirements. It is not my intention however to propose detailed changes at least until the EEC Fourth Directive on Company law, which deals with company accounts, reaches a more advanced stage of preparation.
The question of obliging company directors and executives to disclose their associations with companies outside the State raises certain issues on which I have not yet formed a final opinion but which I shall consider when our Companies Act is being reviewed.
